Maya Kierski

Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Harley, Heidi

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

The prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a developmental and neurological disorder that is characterized by repetitive behaviors and difficulty with social skills and communication, has been growing significantly in the last few decades. As this group expands, we need to know more about people with ASD, their needs, and their experiences. One way to learn more about these aspects of ASD is to investigate how characters with Autism Spectrum Disorder are perceived by people with and without ASD. Here we compared the responses of people with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder to questions about ASD and portrayals of fictional characters with ASD. We found that both groups agreed ASD behaviors were often misinterpreted, that fictional portrayals of ASD characters could raise awareness of ASD and benefit the public, and that writers of these characters should consult with people with ASD. In addition, both groups’ experiences of video clips of ASD characters were not statistically significantly different – possibly due to low sample sizes and variability of symptoms across the autism spectrum. There were some differences between ASD and non-ASD participants’ responses: ASD participants were less comfortable watching ASD characters in the media and less supportive of having ASD characters in shows than were non-ASD participants, perhaps because the ASD participants found character portrayal and educational value to be less positive than did non-ASD participants. In addition, there was variability in responses concerning whether or not actors portraying ASD characters should themselves have ASD. A benefit of this study was giving people with ASD a voice towards how they feel and perceive depictions of their own diagnosis in the media. It was beneficial to see the ways in which those with ASD either differed or were similar in their answers to those who were not diagnosed with ASD. Future research should also include a bigger population of individuals with an ASD diagnosis.

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